In application Ser. No. 730,398, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,947, of which this application is a continuation-in-part, dimpling of a circular saw blade to produce discrete ridges raised from the plane of the blade, is described. The dimpling process produces a cold working effect, and the raised ridges provide protection against overheating of the blade and scorching of the workpiece when a planar side surface of the blade comes into contact with a wall defining the kerf being produced by the teeth of the blade. The present application is directed to an extension of that principle and technique to linear saw blades and other applications for which those principles and techniques have utility.
Producing small, discrete, surfaces projecting from a planar surface of a jigsaw, hacksaw, or band saw blade, for example, is counter-intuitive. Logically, clearance between the kerf produced by the teeth of the blade, and the body of the blade behind the teeth would be maximized. However, it is a matter of common knowledge that the bodies of jigsaw, hacksaw or band saw blades frequently come into contact with the walls defining the kerf of a workpiece. The provision of low-profile projections from such a blade reduces the surface of contact with the kerf wall.